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State
of Florida v. Jesse Prince
In May
of 2001, Jesse Price stood trial in Clearwater, Florida for possession
of a marijauna plant. Jesse could have accepted a plea bargain and
paid a small fine but he decided to fight the charge to uncover
Scientology's involvement in the case.
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The trial was expensive
and in some ways embarrasing but ultimately we were able to show just
how far Scientology will go to attempt to destroy it's critics.
Several of Scientology's
Private Investigators were forced to take the stand and testify. One of
them, Brian Raftery, testified that he is paid $187,000 a year for following
members of the LMT.
Furthermore, Scientology
admitted to the press that they set out to damage Jesse's reputation through
these investigators so they could undermine Jesse's testimony in the Lisa
McPherson wrongful death civil suit. This is a very serious example of
witness tampering.
Ultimately, Scientology's
effort backfired as the local media condemned
them for the set-up.
Judge Michael F.
Andrews presided over the trial and allowed me to record the audio
of the proceedings.
LEGAL
DOCUMENTS:
May 15, 2001 --
Deposition of Jim Patterson, a private investigator hired by the
defense, along with Ray Emmons, to locate Scientology PI's for this
trial.
May 15,
2001 --
Deposition of Ray Emmons, a private investigator hired by the defense,
along with Jim Patterson, to locate Scientology PI's for this trial.
May 15,
2001 -- Deposition
of Brian Raftery, Private Detective hired by Scientology to surveil
Jesse Prince. (Also, on this record is Scientology Attorney,
Helena Kobrin, attempting to attend the deposition without identifying
that she represents Scientology.) PDF
version 2.2 megs
May 15, 2001 -- Deposition of Barry Gaston, Private Detective hired
by Scientology to surveil Jesse Prince. Gaston befriended
Jesse and Dee at a local pool hall and claimed to be Rinzi Trinidad.
PDF
version 2.4 megs
May 18, 2001 -- Deposition
of Joseph Fabrizio, Private Detective hired by Scientology to surveil
Jesse Prince. Fabrizio worked with fellow PI, Barry Gaston. (Also,
on this record is Scientology Attorney, Helena Kobrin.)
PDF
version 7.24 megs
May 15,
2001 --
Deposition of Howard Crosby, Sergeant, Largo Police. PDF
version 2.3 megs
May 18, 2001 -- Deposition
of Deneen Phillips, Jesse's partner.
May 23-24,
2001 -- Trial Transcripts - Part
1xx Part
2 xxPart
3 xxPart
4 xxPart
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IN THE PRESS
Aug
12, 2000 -- St. Pete Times article, Scientology
critic faces drug cultivation charge
May 19, 2001 -- St. Pete Times article,
Church critic trailed, arrested
May 23, 2001 -- Tampa Tribune article, 'Testimony:
Church of Scientology spurred critic's arrest'
May
24, 2001 -- St. Pete Times article, Scientology
is a key player in marijuana case
May 25, 2001 -- Tampa Tribune story, Scientology
critic's jury hung
May
26, 2001 -- St. Pete Times editorial, Church
behavior? ... Scientology set out to destroy Jesse Prince.
May
26, 2001 -- St. Pete Times story, Scientology
critic won't face retrial; Prosecutors decide to drop marijuana charge
May
26, 2001 -- Tampa Tribune article, Hung
jury induces prosecutors to drop their pot-growing case
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Report 1